Chicken farm conditions "shocking"

A poultry farm owner in south Auckland could soon become the focus
of an investigation after an animal rights group raided his farm
and took photos and video footage of conditions there.

The SPCA says the material is shocking and that it has
investigated the owners before.

The Animal Liberation Front ignored warning signs not to
trespass when they broke into the battery farm on Friday night.

They say video footage taken shows many birds crammed into cages
unable to spread their wings or walk.

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Rochelle Rees of Auckland Animal Action says it also shows "more
horrendous" conditions, in particular, cages that had six or seven
birds in them.

"They also had a lot of dead ones around all over the floor in the
cages living with the live ones.

"Most consumers I think don't realise, when they're in the
supermarket and [eggs are] labelled with things like 'country
fresh', where the eggs are actually coming from."

The owner, and the man supposedly responsible for the care of
the chickens is Gary van den Bogaart. He was not talking on
Saturday but his neighbours were. One of them described the
conditions as disgusting.

This is not the first time van den Bogaart has been accused of
cruelty to animals.

In 1996, he was found guilty of cruelty to animals when three
sheep on his property died. The judge said it would have been
obvious that the sheep were suffering cruelty, distress and pain
before they died.

The 1996 prosecution was taken by the SPCA and it is now
promising renewed action.

David Lloyd-Barker of the SPCA says the conditions the chickens
are being kept in are abhorrent to him.

"It saddens me every time we see pictures of animal cruelty like
this. And again we will investigate this matter to the fullest
extent of the law."

If the owner is charged and found guilty, the maximum penalty he
faces under the Animal Welfare Act is six months jail and a fine of
$25,000.